Husky Squadron: The Dogs of War
by Fuzzy Pawson
Summary: Part Two: The Huskies continue to lead the fight against the mysterious invaders that have threatened all of Lylat, but this time without Starfox's help. NB: Coarse language, adult references, no SFA involved
1. Prologue

**The usual banter: **

**Some of the characters in this fictional tale are owned by Nintendo and are used in this story for recreational non-profit purposes only. This includes Bill Grey, General Pepper and Fox McCloud. Some of the locations in this fictional tale are owned by Nintendo and are used in this story for recreational non-profit purposes only. This includes the planets and sectors of the Lylat System. Some of the technologies in this fictional tale are owned by Nintendo and are used in this story for recreational non-profit purposes only. This includes the Arwing and the Great Fox. (But then again, you knew all of that, didn't you?) **

**Please ask my permission before using any of the characters I created (IE anyone in the story not aforementioned) **

**You can see images of Husky Squadron at **

**http://geocities.com/doofusarcanine/squadron.htm **

**Contact me! doofusofdestiny@hotmail.com **

Husky Squadron Part 2: The Dogs of War 

Prologue: 

Seven years after the defeat of Andross, the flames of war have once again engulfed the Lylat System. A new foe, armed with seemingly endless fleets has assaulted the Lylat System, taking advantage of corruption and greed within the Cornerian Defence Force's intelligence divisions.  
Their unstoppable advance has toppled the recently established democratic governments of Venom, Macbeth and Zoness, they laid siege to Titania and was only recently halted by movements based on last minute intelligence reports. The Star Fox team- revered heroes of the war with Andross- has gone missing. Now, the enemy is gathering its forces for another onslaught, more powerful and deadlier than the last. 

However not all odds are stacked against the alliance of free systems defending Corneria, Katina, Fortuna and Aquas. The intelligence war is swinging in their favour, and Husky Squadron, a driving force behind the defensive campaign so far, is being reinforced and replenished. The Katinian fleet so badly mauled at the Battle of Macbeth is repaired and the Cornerians are pumping out more starfighters and battleships than ever before. 

Commander Grey of Husky Squadron was promoted to Colonel, and was granted command of the entire fighter and bomber contingent on deployment with the Katinian carrier _Archangel_. The pilots emerged from the first round stronger than they were before, but at grievous cost. Four pilots from Husky Squadron fell during the fighting, and much of the 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing was destroyed. 

Following an impromptu mission to retrieve two downed pilots, the Huskies went back to Rest and Recreation- to enjoy it while it lasted. 

Once they go back onto active duty, they will be at the spearhead of a renewed Katinian Fleet, more ready for battle than at the commencement of the war more than a month beforehand. But will it be ready enough? For the custodians of Lylat don't know the true menace which they are preparing to deal with, one that is far more ancient and dreadful than any ever known tothem… 


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 

General Rathcoat stared out at the vista before him.  
The stars of the night sky beat their light down upon a bustling city, their beauty cheated from them by the bright lights and neon signs which dotted the landscape for miles. Above him, the engine glow from hundreds of ships and speeders swept through the sky, like so many fireflies and shooting stars.  
The war was not going well for Katina. Rathcoat's own orders had been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of military personnel, and the loss of many ships.  
That didn't bother him. In the grander scheme of things, the planets of Katina and Corneria would all be a passing dream anyway. As long as he got _something_ out of his existence, like some enjoyment, he'd be happy.  
This attitude was not shared by many of his fellow generals and admirals, since it was not one that was appropriate for a high-ranking officer. But they were blinded by their principles. They might have been offered the chance to grant themselves wealth and power, if they were not so stubbornly loyal to Katina.  
Rathcoat sighed. _Ah well. It means more power for me, once this is all done._

He turned away from the sights of the city and sat down at a desk, opting to return to his work and continued planning how to bring about the downfall of Katina. 

Just outside his door was a trooper of the Reunification, disguised as a feline. The rest of the detachment was lurking in the shadows of his mansion, watching, protecting. 

He smiled at himself. The plan he had laid out was the ultimate in "bungle-ups". It would, at best, have the entire Katinian fleet crashing through the atmosphere when the enemy arrived. 

_The perfect plan. That bungling fool Pontac may have been great at espionage, but he wasn't very good at engineering battles to his whim. In fact I wouldn't even be doing this if Pontac hadn't messed up._

Rathcoat paused. Perhaps he did have something to be grateful to Pontac about.

He resumed his work.

A lone weasel at the front of the estate sat, his hands on his knees, chewing some straw. To any passer by he appeared to be some country bumpkin, enjoying the view before the dawn came.

Of course, to the young female squirrel approaching the estate, this weasel's response to a simple challenge would dictate whether he lived or died.

"Evening, sir!" Said the squirrel casually. "What brings you out to my property?"

The weasel looked surprised. "I didn't realize it was yours, ma'am."

There was the sound of a brief crackle, then the squirrel quickly drew a pistol and fired two silenced, muzzled shots into the weasel's face. She turned and fire thrice into a patch of wild grass to his right, being rewarded by the sight of another person slumping, dead.

The crackle had been the sound of an earset comm unit receiving a transmission which had said '_The vibrations in his voice are all wrong! It's one of them insects in disguise!_'

Following her stealthy action, the squirrel frisked the dead weasel's body. She pressed a recessed button on the weasel's back, and the weasel disguise retracted and closed up, revealing the insectile body of a Reunification trooper.

The squirrel dragged the body into the wild grass, concealing it beside the body of the other trooper she had shot. She took two pistols off each of them, kept one for herself then hid the others.

She pulled off her trousers and jacket, revealing a skin-tight black stealthsuit, onto which was strapped an additional two pistols and extra charge packs for them.

"Central, this is Striker, Front yard secure." She whispered.

For four seconds she waited in utter silence, before another voice answered over the comm. "Central this is Slasher, back yard secure."

Then, "Central, this is Sneaker, roof secure."

"Central to all Slash units, proceed with phase two." Replied a low, rough voice.

The young squirrel, Striker, dashed quickly to the nearest wall, feeling each window, knowing exactly how each one was locked. She came to one that was locked up tight, but consisted of a single large pane of glass, unobstructed by any support beams or struts.

Striker withdrew a small item from her belt. It was a pair of night-vision goggles, more compact and more useful than their standard military issue counterparts. She wrapped them over her eyes and switched over to x-ray mode, scanning the room just inside the window. There wasn't a soul in there. She went back to regular night-vision and glanced around quickly, to make sure that there was nobody looking, then she set about cutting the glass.

She heard Slasher's voice again. "Central, this is Slasher. Estate penetrated, no contact. Holding in kitchen, awaiting go signal."

_Damn, I'm falling behind._ She picked up her pace and with one graceful movement she leapt through the new hole in the window and landed soundlessly inside the estate.

"Central, this is Striker, Estate penetrated, no contact yet. Holding in main rumpus room, awaiting go signal."

She kept a pistol in each hand, prepared as ever to take out whoever might arrive to challenge her.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Sneaker came through the comm. "Central, this is sneaker. Estate penetrated, two contacts in attic, both neutralized quietly. Holding in attic, awaiting go signal."

"Central to all Slash units, move in, commence phase three."

The squirrel switched back to x-ray vision. She saw one guard moving through the hallway just outside the rumpus room. However the range of her x-ray vision was too limited to show if there were any guards beyond him.

She picked up a small paperweight left lying around on the rumpus room's table and dropped it again. Then she pressed a small button on her suit.

The noise startled the guard outside, who was disguised as a young canine. He entered the rumpus room cautiously. But he couldn't see anything in there; it was too dark. He flicked on the light switch, and saw that the room was empty.

Or so it appeared.

A blur of motion caused him to turn right. The squirrel's movement had deactivated her stealthsuit's cloaking mechanism, but it had lasted long enough for her to catch her quarry unawares.

He wasn't just some average Reunification trooper, though. As one of the Guard, he'd had some extra training to compliment his biological engineering. He ducked quickly and charged forwards, knocking the muzzled pistol out of the squirrel's hands. He followed with a punch aimed at her head, but it missed, leaving him exposed.

The squirrel moved in for the kill. She jabbed quickly at his ribs, but it did little against the creature's exoskeleton, hidden underneath the disguise. She evaded another heavy blow and delivered a savage kick to his head. He stumbled back, reaching for his pistol, but she was too fast for him. She jumped and caught his head inside her right knee, tightened her right leg muscles then twisted with her whole body, instantly snapping his neck. She landed on the ground softly on her arms and her left leg, whilst keeping her right leg around the dead trooper's neck to prevent him falling heavily to the ground, which would have caused unnecessary and dangerous noise.

After gently lowering the body to the ground, she dragged it under the table and covered it with a large tablecloth, then scooped up her pistol and moved on.

Striker left the rumpus room, coming out into a short corridor. To her right was her mission objective, General Rathcoat's room; to the left was a quick escape route. She turned right and stalked down the corridor, not seeing any traps, extra troops or security cameras.

Just as she was nearing the General's door, an alarm began sounding.

"Central to all Slash units, hold and wait for regroup!"

"This is Striker, there's no time! He might have some sort of escape route or trick! I'm going in!"

"Negative, Striker! It's too dangerous!"

She swore and ran the rest of the distance to the door, pistol at the ready. A quick X-ray scan revealed one man sitting in a chair, just inside the room. She tested the old-fashioned doorknob, but it was locked.

Striker took a few steps back, built momentum and smashed through the door.

"General!" She shouted at the figure in the chair. "You're under arrest!"

The bear looked up at her, a smile on his face. "No, I don't think so."

With that a guard dropped from the roof down towards her, but she managed to see it and avoid it in time. She spun and fired into the creature, then turned to face Rathcoat again.

"General, you're coming with me." She primed a stun dart and fired it, causing the general to slump in his chair.

But one minor mistake almost cost her dearly. She had focused all her attention there for the barest of instants, and as a consequence she was disarmed from behind.

She reflexively kicked backwards, but her opponent sidestepped and delivered a solid punch into her face. She went sprawling onto the floor, but before she could recover, she felt a pistol pressed up against her neck.

"This is what you get for messing with me, little girl." Growled the huge figure leaning over her.

Suddenly there was a crash and the sound of compressed air being discharged and her assailant slumped to the ground beside her.

Sneaker had punched a hole in the room's roof and dropped down towards them, firing a stun dart at the figure who had been leering over Striker. Slasher then promptly entered the room from a door at the far end, using the body of a dead guard as a shield. The lithe jaguar looked at everyone gathered in the room, then cast the body aside like it was so much rubbish.

"It's a pity they want this bastard alive." Said Sneaker, leaning over the prostrate form of the one he'd just shot. Striker got her first good look at him and gaped in surprise. It was General Rathcoat.

"What the hell were you doing, rushing in like that without our backup?" Slasher said angrily, though his face showed more relief than it did anger. "We had to rush in too after you went gung-ho. Central is not happy."

"Hang on, why are there two Rathcoats?" Sneaker said, glancing from one unconscious Rathcoat to the other.

"I was wondering the same thing." Said Striker groggily. She hadn't yet recovered from her blow to the head.

Slasher thought for a moment. "Not for us to figure out. Let's just take both of them and get back to Central."


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Yeah, well it was fun while it lasted." Said Fuzzy groggily. He hadn't yet recovered from his blow to the head.

Perry ducked under Fuzzy's next punch and hit him squarely in the ribs. The bigger canine grunted but retaliated successfully by striking Perry in the gut.

"C'mon, Fuzzy, let's pick up the pace." Perry said. Then he began a flurry of martial arts moves, most of which Fuzzy blocked.

"Not bad, Perry. But that martial arts stuff is only good for sparring like this, or on the open battlefield." Said Fuzzy. The Husky then delivered a few combos of punches, most of which were also blocked. "Boxers always win when it's time to get up close and personal, like in corridors or cockpits, you know, _real_ fighting."

"That's why I'm good at both." Perry replied, then he matched Fuzzy's technique, move for move.

The other Huskies in the gym watched the match with interest. Perry's speed and technique was matched against Fuzzy's strength and endurance. The two canines had been trading blows for a few minutes now, and neither had managed a win.

It was sparring Husky Squadron style- no protection, no padding on the floor, the most you would do would be to bind your paws.

Perry struck Fuzzy heavily across the face, drawing some blood from the Husky's mouth, but Fuzzy struck back with a heavy punch to the chest. Both fighters stumbled apart for a moment.

"Not bad, Perry, I almost felt that one."

"You've been getting quicker, too. Almost faster than Turtle Tom now."

It was at that point that an audible thud was heard. The Huskies turned to see Keeler lying face down on a gym mat, with a huge crow laughing over him.

"HAHA! That was too easy!!! Are all you Husky Squadron types such wimps?"

"Who's that clown?" Growled Fuzzy.

"That's Marcus Blackwing, Nightcrow Leader." Perry replied blithely.

"Nightcrow?"

"A new escort squadron for the 1st Tacbomb." Said Terry from behind them. The great eagle stepped forward. "Someone ought to teach him a lesson."

Marcus, meanwhile, hadn't stopped his arrogant tirade. "C'mon!" He yelled. "Bring it on! I'll take any of you Huskies! What's the matter you guys, scared?"

At this both Fuzzy and Terry took a step forward, rage seething on their faces. But Perry grabbed their shoulders and held them back.

"Oy, Perry, I can take him!" Both pilots said in unison.

"I know you can, but it's more interesting if…" Perry glanced of to the right, and the other two followed his gaze. Blaze had stood up, and was quickly striding to the offending crow.

The trio smiled. This _would _be interesting.

"Aha! A new challenger!" Marcus yelled. "Prepare to get your ass kicked!"

Marcus leapt forward and began striking Blaze with a variety of moves, starting with kicks, then working his way into punch combos. Fuzzy noted that the crow didn't have half the technique that Perry did, and it was quite evident Marcus wasn't as strong as himself or Terry. The only reason he had defeated Matt was because of the boy's lack of experience.

Meanwhile Marcus kept giving Blaze his best shots, some of which Blaze blocked, but when he lost interest, he simply dodged or stood still, letting a blow strike him, then grinning as though it was nothing.

Marcus was getting desperate. He tried shots at Blaze's gut, his knees, his neck, his head, even at the 'crown jewels'. But the great orange-furred creature never stopped smiling.

When it became evident that Marcus was getting tired, Blaze leaned forward and gave him a single swift jab to the gut, knocking the crow backwards and leaving him clutching his belly on the ground.

"You'll… PAY… for… that…" Grunted the crow.

"Pretty intimidating for someone who's just been decked by a single punch" Said Blaze sarcastically.

The other Huskies looking on laughed.

Then, around eight other pilots clad in white singlets stood and encircled the three laughing Huskies.

"You think it's funny?" One of them asked menacingly.

"Of course." Replied Perry. "Why, don't you?"

By this stage, Marcus was struggling up. "Like I said, you Huskies'll pay for that. My pilots'll show you."

"Oh, you mean these mindless goons?" Fuzzy chuckled. "I'd very much like to see that."

"Get'em!" One shouted. Then the brawl was on.

Nightcrow squadron never stood a chance. Right at the beginning, Terry bodily lifted one of them and threw him across the gym. Fuzzy decked another with a solid punch to the jaw and Perry knocked a third one out by delivering a swift chop to the base of his neck.

"That's enough!" A voice bellowed from the gym entrance.

Most of the pilots stopped and looked, the others were quickly subdued by Terry.

"What's the matter, Grey?" Sneered Marcus. "Scared that we'll pound on your boys?"

"Firstly, you look like you're the one getting your ass kicked, Blackwing, and secondly, remember who you're addressing, _Captain_."

"Ooh I'm sooo scared of the big bad Colonel." Marcus said sarcastically.

"If you keep this up I WILL bust you down to Flyer for insubordination and conduct unbecoming an officer." Bill said sternly. "Get out of here, and take your pilots with you."

Marcus snarled and stalked out, followed by his goons. Each one gave Bill an icy stare as they went past, but Bill met the eyes of each pilot, unflinching, and returning their stares with one of his own. When they were all gone, Bill walked out to his squadron.

"I should reprimand you too, but I heard the whole thing from outside." He said quietly.

"What's with them?" Said Terry. "Don't tell me they're gonna be posted with us."

"I'm afraid that's the case." Said Bill. "I'll be giving out our deployment orders soon, but I can tell you- we'll be seeing a lot more of them."

The other pilots groaned.

"Well, what'd you come down here for, other that to save their sorry asses?"

"Just to let Fuzzy know," He turned to the other Husky. "-I want to see you in my office now. Come with me."

"All right," Said Fuzzy. He grabbed his jacket and walked after Bill. "What's going on?"

"We need to discuss some matters."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

As Fuzzy came to Bill's office door, he noticed a trio of other pilots waiting outside. He privately wondered what was going on there.

Bill opened the door and let Fuzzy in, before closing it again.

"Now Pawson, it didn't take much thinking for me to figure this out. Take a seat."

Fuzzy sat on the chair opposite Bill's. The older husky reached into a drawer and placed a pair of lieutenant shoulder patches on the desk. "These are for you."

Fuzzy's eyes widened. "Bill? Sir? You mean it?"

"Absolutely. I thought that given your performance in the last few engagements, plus your initiative with the shield generators and the counter-jamming technique was reason enough to have you promoted. Besides, since we need a new leader for Three flight, and since you were the only survivor, I think perhaps it's time you took up the reins. You've been waiting long enough. Do you think you're up to the task?"

Fuzzy stared in wonder at the rank patches. He knew that they bore both privilege and responsibility, but somehow, by gut instinct, he knew he was ready.

"Yes, Yeah I can do it." Fuzzy replied. "I'm ready."

"Then congratulations, Lieutenant." Bill said. "You are as of this moment designated Husky Nine, the new leader of Three Flight."

Bill shook Fuzzy's hand and attached the rank insignia to Fuzzy's jacket.

"Now, in your first role as leader of Three Flight, you'll be seeing in Three flight's replacements. Go on, let them in."

  
Francine glanced out at the oncoming fighter. It was bearing down far too swiftly for her to offload her bombs into the carrier and escape unscathed.  
Of course, this also meant that it was traveling too fast to evade, should she decide to engage with a close-range attack. She turned into her opponent's line of fire, then up suddenly. A quick boost and thrust vectoring brought her onto her opponent's tail, but he had already spun away, down and below Francine's line of sight.  
Her holographic display tracked the other fighter being almost directly below her and moving onto her tail, so she followed, turning down to try and get onto _his _tail.  
His turn, however, was a lot tighter than she had expected. Francine belatedly realized that he had left his throttle at low power, and was not interested in getting onto her tail at all. Her move had brought her ship in line with his guns and while both ships were facing each other, Francine was aiming far too low of the mark and couldn't hope to pull up for a shot in time.  
She accelerated downwards, but not in time. His lasers struck aft of the cockpit, blowing out one of her engines.  
"I'm hit!" She cried. A quick roll to the right helped her evade some more shots, but now her chances of winning the battle were slim. By accelerating downwards, she may have evaded some of her opponent's firepower, but she had effectively put him on her tail by doing that, and with one engine gone, she knew she had no hope of losing him, having now seen his skill.  
More laser bolts stabbed into all parts of her ship, effectively reducing it to a molten blob, before it exploded.

"Simulation terminated." Bill's voice said over her headsets. "That was a good fight, but he was all over you, Fran. Looks like you lost the bet- Oh wait…" There was a pause. "Har har. Now as the winner he wants to buy you a round. Get on out here."  
Fran blinked in surprise. _It wasn't Bill I was up against? But whoever it was, he was pretty good. Fox McCloud is still missing, and Old Ken wouldn't have his skills THAT polished, Sticks and Perry are still on leave, so who..?_

Francine walked down the ramp of the simulator, still wondering who the other pilot had been whoever it was, he had to have been one hell of an ace.

Bill was waiting at the bottom to the ramp, with the simulation results in his paw. Beside him was Fuzzy, munching happily on a kebab.

_Well, if he's eating then it wasn't Fuzzy in the other end…_

"Geez, Bill! That was one mean battle!" Said Francine. "Who was in the other sim? He's one hell of a pilot!"

"Oh yes, he is." Bill said, smirking.

Francine waited for more, but got nothing else.

"So… Where is he? I'd really like to meet him."

Fuzzy chortled through a mouthful of meat and lettuce and Bill's smirk grew into a fully-fledged grin. "What, you haven't met him yet?"

_Well that narrows it down to people I know, but…_

"Was it Perry?"

Bill and Fuzzy glanced at each other in amusement and pointed back at the control room. Perry was seated at the controls, waving at her.

Bill shook his head and signaled to a figure seated near the control room. "You may as well take it now. You lost to this man."

The man approaching removed his helmet revealing the youthful face of the squadron's most rookie pilot.

Francine's jaw dropped. "_KEELER?!_ I lost to KEELER?!"

Bill and Fuzzy began laughing outright. A bit of tomato fell from the latter's mouth.

"What's wrong, Fran? You look a little shocked." Bill teased.

"But… But he's not… _THAT_ good!"

The three pilots around her all raised their eyebrows.

"…Is he?"

"Apparently he is." Bill said, checking the scores again. Fran was still gaping, and Fuzzy amused himself analyzing her expression.

"Don't look like that." Said Matt soothingly. "I've already beaten Benny and Blaze over the week."

"Matt is turning into quite a hotshot." Said Bill.

"Whoa!" Matt exclaimed, seeing Fuzzy's rank patches for the first time. "A lieutenant? Nice work Fuzzy!"

Francine had noted the golden triangles on Fuzzy's shoulders but had said nothing, after all, he had been the obvious choice to succeed Wallace, even before the war had begun.

Bill checked his chrono. "Hey, look at the time. I should have scheduled a squadron meeting by now." His brow furrowed in thought. "All right, we'll have one after dinner. Can I count on you two lieutenants to inform your flights?"

"Not a problem, sir." Replied Fuzzy.

"Sure, Bill." Said Francine.

"Good. You've got free time until then. Make it count, 'cause you won't have much after that."


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The two lieutenants were the last to enter the briefing room, each having made sure every one of their pilots was ready.

Bill cleared his throat, ending all side conversation.

"All right Huskies, as you might already know, we'll be back on the _Archangel_ in two days. I'll assume most of you are already prepared, so there won't be much last-minute frivolity like there was at the beginning of this fight. However, should any of you still have some loose ends to tie up, see me in my office after this meeting."

Bill then picked up a datapad he had left sitting on the briefing room table.

"Now, as you know we took heavy casualties on our last deployment, so we have accepted three pilots from other squadrons, and one intelligence operative with hot flying skills to boost our roster. They'll all have extra skills that I've chosen because of the difficulties we've faced so far. Flying as Husky Three will be Randall Lynx, could you stand please?"

A short, wiry Lynx with scruffy brown fur stood at the back of the room. He didn't look much older than Matt Keeler.

"He's also going to be our squadron's own quartermaster, since it's become evident that we need one." Bill added. "Thank you, take a seat now Randall. Our new Husky Nine is of course recently promoted Lieutenant Pawson."

Fuzzy got some handshakes and congratulations from his squadronmates.

"Husky Ten was transferred from Fang Squadron, her name's Kina Weston. She'll help manage communications and will be doing a lot of work with Fuzzy and Matt in fixing our comm units so they'll be immune to enemy jamming. Please stand, Ms. Weston."

A wildcat seated near the front of the room stood. She had striped fur and a delicate physique, and she had a datacard in her pocket. Obviously a technician of some sort.

Bill motioned for her to sit again.

"To fill Husky Eleven's spot we've gotten someone out of Dagger Squadron, he's a pretty experienced pilot by the name of Carl Henderson. He's going to be our main sensor officer. He'll also be working with Fuzzy and Matt to enhance our ships' sensors, and his own ship will be fitted with specialized sensors, which will relay their data to the rest of us, giving us a God's-eye view of our battles. Please stand, Henderson."

Henderson was a timberwolf with a savage scar running down his left cheek. His mere appearance would have been enough to intimidate, but the Huskies were made of sterner stuff than that.

"And lastly," Said Bill. "Jill Rainier, our new Husky Twelve, just transferred here from Special Ops. She's well trained in ground-pounding, like Perry, and she can help us with covert operations advice."

A squirrel with brown fur stood, the same squirrel who had been raiding the bases of turncoats only a couple of days beforehand. She was well-muscled yet slim enough to remain feminine. A couple of the male pilots of the squadron were immediately taken by her looks, and Bill smirked upon reading the expressions on their faces.

"Thank you Jill. Now the squadron has a new general operations format. For missions with multiple objectives, the Squadron will be arrayed as follows. One flight and Two Flight will alternate between being armed for starfighter combat and anti-starship combat. Due to Three Flight's high level of specialization, it will remain permanently on ground-pounding and ECM or Electronic Support. Husky Nine, in addition to being the flight leader will also act as a permanent escort.

But on specialized operations, the squadron will remain in its old format, being refitted specifically for each mission with the exception of Three Flight which will retain its ECM capabilities. Are there any questions?"

Terry's wing went up.

"Yeah, um, have our lost starfighters been replaced?"

"Good question, Eight. The answer is yes- they have been replaced, but fresh out of the factory, which means that Lieutenant Pawson and his crew haven't been able to modify them to our standards yet. They should be going to our specifications within a couple of days though, so I wouldn't worry about it. Is there anything else? No? All right, I'll be in my office for anyone who wants to see me. Everyone else is permitted to move at will around the base, but a 'no alcohol' rule will be enforced from midnight tonight."

Bill checked through the mercifully few tasks he had to do before getting the squadron together for deployment. His task had been made easier by Lynx's appointment as quartermaster, which meant he only had to deal with administrative duties.

A chime from his door heralded one of those duties. Bill checked a video stream on his computer terminal and saw Flight Officer Benny Swipes standing outside.

"Come on in, Swipes." He called out.

The peregrine falcon walked in briskly, not bothering to sit down at the chair before Bill's desk.

"Sir, I need you to give me a leave permit, for the two days we lave left on Katina."

"Well, it shouldn't be a problem, Benny." Bill pressed a button on his terminal and a printer spat out a green leave permit. "What do you need it for?"

"My girl." Benny said sheepishly. "The whole time we were groundside here she was at Corneria at her folks' place. Needless to say, it'd get awkward if I was to… er… _visit_ her there, you get what I'm saying?"

"Ah." Bill said, without batting an eyelid. "And she's back on Katina now, so you want some close, personal time together, eh?"

Benny nodded.

"Right then, you have all the time between now and two hours to when we leave for the _Archangel_. Dismissed."

Benny smiled, took the slip of paper and saluted.

"She's actually a pilot in the home guard." Said Benny. "She's always wanted to come with me, but of course I think it's too dangerous."

_She'll be coming tonight, I'm sure_. Bill refrained from saying his pun out loud, letting Benny out of the office first. _Damn, I really do still have the mind of a teenager under all this rough warrior's exterior_.

Mere moments after Benny had left, Carl Henderson walked in looking positively furious. 

"Henderson, is something the matter?" Bill asked. 

"Where is that Falcon?!" the timberwolf demanded. "I'll take his camera and shove it down his throat!" 

"Easy, Henderson." Said Bill. "What's the matter?" 

"Tennis in gym…" Carl began, then showed Bill his paw. "WHITE CREAM ON MY RAQUET, THEN WHITE CREAM ON MY RIGHT PAW, PHOTO TAKEN, PHOTOCOPIES ALL OVER BASE WITHIN TWO MINUTES!!!" 

Bill would have been howling in laughter had Carl not been taking it so badly. Instead he just smirked and punched out another leave slip. 

"He got away, Henderson, but you have forty hours to track him down and pay him back. Good Luck." 

Carl nodded and stormed out. 

Bill shook his head. Benny had succeeded Don as number one prankster, and had just initiated one of the new pilots. Perhaps his squadron having the minds of teenagers wasn't such a bad thing. As he had learned over years of experience, this sort of insanity was the only thing that kept the pilots sane over long, casualty-ridden wars. 


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 

Matt strode up to the office beside Bill's. It contained the only other pilot in the squadron who had an office, the new quartermaster, Randall Lynx. 

Matt pressed the chime, stared up at the camera, then strode in once the door opened. 

Randall was poring over a list of requisitions, most of which appeared to be some sort of component Fuzzy needed for shield generators or communications and sensor arrays. 

"Hiya, Randall. How're you adjusting to the squadron?" Matt asked. 

"Fine, just fine. Most of 'em are pretty cool, and I've learned to watch my back around Swipes." 

Matt laughed. "Yeah… Well he's gonna be off-base for a couple of days, so you're safe for now." 

The Lynx looked up. "All right, so what can I do for you?" 

"Well, Kina and I need some hardware to start programming a new communications/sensors program for the arrays Fuzzy's fitting to the starfighters, I was just wondering if you could get me something." 

"Let me see." Randall checked some files. "What kind of processing power do you need?" 

"Anything GigaWare 2 or better which is compatible with our starfighter systems." Keeler replied. 

"Well, if you don't need anything newer or more powerful, that could actually be quite easy." The Lynx said, bringing up some files on his terminal. "All the files of the old pilots are here, and there's quite a load of junk they didn't return, some of it went home with them but most of it ended up with Colonel Grey. He in turn kept them in military storage here in this base, under the names of the original pilots." 

Randall adjusted the hologram so that Keeler could see it more easily. "Here's what we got, erm, a Gigaware 1 under Kenneth Darwin, nope that one's too old, umm, a Figment 221, will that do?" 

"No," Keeler shook his head. "That one's mainly used for gaming and graphic design, not what I have in mind." 

"Let's keep looking then, shall we?" And the Lynx scrolled down more, coming across a Gigaware special, which was useless to Keeler. 

As he scrolled past another Gigaware 1 Keeler suddenly told him to stop scrolling. 

"Hang on, go back there." 

"There's no hardware here." Randall replied, confused. 

"No, look at this. Barry H. Keeler. This pilot was with Husky Squadron when it was still with the CDF, a year before Colonel Grey took command." 

The Lynx noticed, but didn't seem to care much. 

"Yeah, Keeler's a common name. What's up?" 

"Barry H. Keeler was my Dad's name." Matt frowned, wondering what it meant. "I always knew he was in the armed forces, but no-one ever told me he was in Husky Squadron, and that's weird, because I would have expected at least the Colonel to have pointed it out by now." 

"Why, didn't you ever know your father?" Asked Randall. 

"No, my parents broke up when I was three. I always knew my father was with the CDF, but my mother didn't tell me anything else." 

"That can happen when two people break up." Sighed the Lynx. "She might have thought she was protecting you from him." 

"Hmmm." Keeler shook his head. "Never mind. I'll ask Bill some other time." 

"Right." Randall didn't look very much farther when he spotted exactly what Keeler wanted. "Ah! Catch of the day! A Gigaware 3, signed out under the name of Brent Zeeman who died during the first War. Looks like nobody bothered to clean up his belongings after his death. That Gigaware 3 must have been brand new if he had it all those years ago" The lynx flashed Keeler a toothy grin. "Don't worry, Matt. It'll be in this office within two hours. You run along and amuse yourself for a while." 

"… So with General Rathcoat and his clone under detention, General Forbes will run as the leader of Starfighter Command until another General takes his place. But with six Cornerians and one Katinian, General Weismann, going for the spot, it could take a while until we have a new leader." Bill finished. Perry and the two Lieutenants looked aghast. 

"Rathcoat was a spy?" Francine sputtered. 

"That's right." Bill shook his head. "He's responsible for a lot. I hope they throw the book at him." 

"The only penalty for treason is death." Fuzzy said darkly. "I reckon he deserves it. So do they know which one is the real Rathcoat?" 

"Who cares? Vape'em both." Perry spat. 

"Yeah." Bill said. "But it's not in our paws. Anyway, by tracing how he behaves, as well as chemicals present in his blood, intelligence found out which one is the real Rathcoat." 

"Yeesh, that's scary." Said Perry. "Makes you wonder if Forbes is honest." 

"He is, because now there are agents everywhere reporting directly to the President. They know about him. In fact," Bill lowered his voice. "I wouldn't be surprised if one of our recruits is one of those agents." 

A brief silence followed. 

"That sucks." Said Fuzzy at length. "So what do we do now?" 

"Easy, we just be ourselves. It's not like anyone here has anything to hide." Bill replied. "So now, how are the upgrades going, Fuzzy?" 

"Complete on three of the new fighters, half finished on two of the others and the last one hasn't been touched yet. I'm waiting for Lynx to get the rest of the parts so I can finish, and Keeler's getting some hardware off him now so that we can get a program together for the new systems. Won't take long." 

Bill nodded. "Well, the long and short of it is, once we get onto the Archangel, the whole battle group's jetting off for Fortuna. The Home Defense Fleet will be charged with protecting Katina from attack." The husky gave each officer a datacard. "I have also received word that Aquas could soon come under assault. The fleet defending there is too small to fend off the invaders, but it is sufficiently close to home to be considered a vital objective. Therefore, the Cornerians are sending a fleet to deal with it." 

"Why would the invaders be interested in a ball of water?" Perry asked. 

"I don't know, but we're probably going to find out soon." 

Matt was waiting outside the conference room as the four officers walked out. Matt greeted each one as they walked by until Bill stepped out, last of all. 

"Colonel, can I have a word with you?" 

Bill locked the door and turned to face the young pilot. "Sure, Matt. What do you need?" 

"Well, has there been any other pilot named Keeler in this squadron before?" 

"Sure." Bill said. His eyes lost focus as he seemed to try and remember something. "Barry Keeler, I think it was. Why? Think you're related?" 

"Barry was my father." Matt said. 

Bill blinked. "You sure? I should have gotten something in your file a long time ago if he was." 

Matt nodded and folded his arms. "Positively. I had a look at his photo in the archives, and he was definitely my dad. Most of the stuff about him was deleted though." 

"Deleted?" Bill asked, now looking thoroughly perplexed. "That's weird. I'll look into it. But it might take some time, I mean there is a war on and my attention is needed elsewhere." 

"Oh, I understand, Sir. I appreciate the help." Keeler saluted. "Don't worry about it unless there's nothing else to do- after all there'll always be time after the war to go over it and figure it out." 


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 

Two days later, Bill was staring out at a launchpad, at the twelve fighters arrayed there. They looked vastly different now from the battle-scored metal buckets that had raided Macbeth nearly a month ago. 

Each fighter was gleaming, freshly polished, with beautifully unblemished paint jobs. Most of them sported a large number of enemy fighter kills next to the cockpit canopy, a testament to the skill of the pilots who had survived this long. One, Jill's, still bore no kill marks. Time would tell if she was capable of keeping pace with the rest of the squadron. 

Mechanics and technicians were running around, making final checks, while the pilots were in the adjacent ready room, gathering luggage and suiting up. Once again they were heading out to an uncertain fate at the hands of war, but this time there were no dreams of glory, nor any cold dread about what laid ahead. 

Each pilot had now experienced the fury of battle first-hand, and now saw the deployment as a duty to the people back at home, above all else. 

Some of the pilots began to filter out now, saluting Bill as they passed, some stopping for a few quick words before striding off to their spacecraft. All of them made quick checks on their starfighters before throwing their baggage into the back of the ship and vaulting in. 

Bill started to make his way to his own fighter. He smiled as he caught sight of the rows of enemy starfighters painted onto the side of his ship, most of which were shot down during the war with Andross, the latest ones having been claimed in his first deployment of this war. He threw a green duffel bag behind the pilot's seat and jumped in, donning his helmet as he did so- the same helmet he'd been using for the last eight years, a green one with a thick yellow arrow pointing down the front towards the visor. As he strapped in he ran final checklists and lowered the cockpit canopy, watching the rest of his squadron doing the same. 

The deflector shield above the pad was deactivated. "Husky Squadron is cleared for Launch. Good luck, guys." 

Bill keyed his comm. "I copy, control. We'll bring some victory back for you." 

Then, at a signal from a Great Dane on the ground, Bill gently eased his starfighter upwards, rising away from the pad and heading towards another besieged planet, another chance to cheat death. 

"There it is!" 

Blaze looked up. Ahead of the squadron, now completely visible over Katina's horizon, was the sleek, long grey-black ship that had been Husky squadron's home during the disastrous set of battles that took place around Macbeth, the Archangel. As the Huskies drew nearer, Blaze could discern a multitude of other ships, large and small, in a protective sphere around her. From what his improved scanners could tell him, four new escort carriers were in position, as well as the mighty battleships Decklon, Harton and Katina. 

Most of the other ships he did not recognize, and couldn't spot some of the ships he'd known before. 

_They've either been destroyed, reassigned or are still in the repair docks._

Keeler's voice spoke through the comm. "That's a much bigger fleet than we had last time." 

"Yeah." Blaze replied. "Must have rolled out a few ships since we last looked." 

"Like that carrier." Said Benny. "That wasn't with us last time."  
Blaze checked his scanners. "The _Warlord_. I've heard of her. Her keel was laid down last year. Looks like they sped up her deployment." 

"That's enough idle chatter, people." Bill cut in. "We've been cleared to land on _Archangel_'s main flight deck. Follow me on final approach. Watch for friendlies from ten-o'clock low, Fang Squadron's coming up from there." 

The Huskies curved around a pair of destroyers, and vectored in towards the _Archangel_'s Flight deck. Behind them, Fang Squadron took up position for approach. 

Blaze had just positioned his fighter over the space allotted to him when he saw red sirens go off through a window in the ship. Had it not been for the vacuum separating him and the Archangel he might have heard alarms too. 

That can't be good. He thought. 

His thoughts were confirmed when Bill suddenly came through the comm. "This is Husky Leader. All fighters initiate rapid docking procedure." 

Blaze didn't hesitate. He brought his fighter down on the deck with a light thud and felt it being lowered into the hangar as soon as the deck clamps took a grip on his landing gear. 

The familiar sight of a bustling hangar deck filled his view as the elevator came to a stop, and Blaze pressed the 'canopy open' button on his panel. 

Nothing happened. 

He sighed and pressed the manual release, thrusting the canopy back as he did so. _This new fighter's still a bit clunky_. He jumped down onto the flight deck and fell in beside the other members of his squadron, now gathered around Colonel Grey. 

"All right, now that everyone's here, I'd better tell you what that was all about." Said Grey. "On our approach, the bridge crew received a distress signal from Fortuna, barely discernable thanks to heavy jamming. The enemy fleet has struck again, and struck hard. This is one planet we can hold onto if we hurry, so the fleet is heading out at flank speed once all of Fang Squadron is secure. I suggest all of you get yourself something to eat and then some sleep ASAP. You'll be briefed on the situation one hour from when we leave warp- that's around twenty-four Cornerian hours from now. Tomorrow you'll receive orders for the day, in preparation for our exit from warp. I would also like to take an opportunity to inform the flight leaders here that we'll have a planning meeting tomorrow morning at 0930 CLT." 

A few clanks further down the hangar bay caused a few of the pilots to turn their heads, but it was only the deck doors closing. A mechanical whine following this signaled the _Archangel_'s entry into warp-space. 

Bill continued; "This time, we know what we're up against. Flight Officer Keeler has programmed simulation scenarios of tactics we expect the enemy to use in future battles, so expect some heavy simulator runs tomorrow. That's all I have for you now- our original schedule is now officially fucked. So go off and be sensible tonight- you'll need to be ready to engage at Fortuna. Dismissed." 

Blaze followed the other pilots away, while Bill spoke quietly to Captain Jackson. Blaze was quite aware that the Squadron had changed greatly. There were four new faces, and he had to force himself to consider them a member of the 'team'. In fact, his flight would be the only one that remained intact from the original squadron at the start of the war. 

Of course, one of his roommates would be different. Don Mossini had been killed in action, and his replacement was a young Lynx named Randall. 

_I guess I'd better be more open with him than I had been with Don…_

Blaze grinned at some memories that came back to him. 

_Ah, I guess I do miss that rascal. Even though he was the biggest pain in the ass I've ever known, I guess I do miss him._

Then it occurred to Blaze that Benny might take up young Randall as his protégé, training him to be the next 'Don' of the squadron. _Still, I guess I should keep an eye on him… One Don clone is bad enough._


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 

"…What we know about the enemy is that their technology is not entirely dissimilar from ours, but their tactics are radical, and rely on surprise, so they're liable to try something new each time. The one thing which is predictable is that they always use jamming in attacks and operate by entrapment." Bill leaned over the small table between him and his officers. "We also believe they are of only one species, they possess advanced cloning technology, and a myriad of other surprises, plus they may even hold the same language as us. What does that tell you?" 

Perry nodded. "They could even be from this system somehow. Who knows? It's not like we have a history on them." 

"That's a possibility." Bill leaned back again. "Well, we got plenty of time to figure that part out. Our main concern is a countermeasure to their jamming techniques, and according to Fuzzy here that's been taken care of." 

Fuzzy glanced up. He didn't feel at all like a Lieutenant, even though he was wearing the triangles, sitting amongst the leaders of Husky Squadron in the officer's mess and discussing mission planning with them on a first-name basis. 

Still, he paid attention as best as he could, and even found a chance to put his thoughts forward once in a while. "Yeah," He said, "Our new systems should work under the thickest of jamming, though you'll get static and distortion in the worst cases." 

"Good work." Bill said. "Now, does anyone have any comments or questions?" 

A collective 'nup' came from the other three pilots. 

Bill checked his watch. "Hmmm. OK, Goody. This meeting went pretty quickly. All right, we'll stick to the plan." He reached into a breast pocket and pulled out two datacards, looking over them as he did so. When he had finished, he tossed them to his two flight leaders. "Fran, Fuzzy, here are your sim schedules. Your flights are free otherwise, but these sim runs are important, so make sure they're on time. You're dismissed, until your sim runs, that is." 

"Beautiful." Fran said as she stood. "I wonder what Keeler's got cooked up for us this time." 

"You'll be surprised." Bill grinned. "It's a doozy." 

As Fran, Perry and Fuzzy left the officer's mess, Perry gave Fuzzy a playful punch on the arm. "So Lieutenant, how're you holding up under the burden of command?" 

Fuzzy raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Holding up? I haven't done anything yet. Just ordered the flight here and there, that's all." 

"Seriously, though," Perry continued. "You've got to work a little harder on your flight than, say Fran does on hers. Your flight is brand new to the squadron. Good fliers with experience, yes, but that could be said for a few of the guys who replaced our losses in the opening days of the War against Andross. They kept burning out of the sky until we managed to keep the squadron alive at the Battle of Katina. That happened for two reasons- good leadership and the arrival of the Star Fox team. Here and now, we've got no word from the Star Fox team, so good leadership is what'll make the difference." 

Fuzzy's eyes widened. "Thanks for that…" 

"Ah, don't worry." Said Francine. "You'll do fine." 

"Thanks, Fran." Fuzzy said. "I'll have a chance to give those new pilots a run for their money in the sims. My session starts in an hour. I'd better tell'em." 

Seven hours later, Matt Keeler was stepping out from his simulator debrief session, a little disappointed. 

He had programmed the simulation program to perform just as he expected the enemy would, and it had done exactly that- the situation had changed since he'd installed it, scaring him out of his choreographed routine. 

He had originally made a plan to gain the maximum number of kills he could, but since so much had changed he was left with spontaneity. 

Still, he had done well, topping the kill rate in his flight again, scaring the tails off the rest of his flight members with his rapidly improving technique, even despite the nasty surprises he had encountered along the way. 

_No doubt Colonel Grey was behind it… slipping in those extra fighters to keep me on my toes._ He thought. 

"Hey Matt!" 

Matt spun. Randall Lynx had come up behind him, with a datacard in his paw. "How'd you find the sim?" 

"Not the same as the one I programmed." Keeler sighed. "Ah well, still got a high score, so that's OK." 

"Good work." Randall gave the datacard to Matt. "This is what I came here for, though. I had some spare time earlier so I asked the Colonel about your old pa, but he didn't have a clue 'parrently you'd already asked him, so I scraped together everything I could about Barry Keeler off the files I had. Hope they help." 

"Oh, sure! Thanks a lot!" Matt smiled. "It should help." 

"Don't be so sure." Randall said. 

"Now what does that mean?" 

"Well, the a lot of the data's restricted. Sorry, I gotta go prep for my sim." Randall shrugged. Matt nodded in response. 

"Oh, sure, go on. You've done more than your share already. Thanks for the help." 

The lynx grinned, and bounded back to the sim block. 

When Randall had gone out of sight, Matt looked down at the datacard, wondering why the information would be restricted. He found the nearest bench and took a seat, checking through the card's contents as he did so. 

It confirmed a lot of basic stuff- his father's birthday, species, and other miscellaneous details, as well as confirming that he had indeed been in Husky Squadron. But nothing else was revealed at all. When Matt tried to find out details on his father's service in the squadron, the datacard would query his position in the Katinian Intelligence Center and his voiceprint. Since Matt wasn't an intelligence agent, he couldn't find out anything. What was more, he couldn't think of a single intelligence agent he could trust.

_Obviously, if it's this secret, the KIC will want it to stay secret. Well, I'll find time to hack it later, there's no rush._

Matt stuffed the card into his pocket and strode back up to the pilot's quarters, making sure that Benny Swipes didn't mess around with anything while he was gone. 


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 

Commodore Wolff Geldens stared down at the white-green ball that he had been tasked to defend, wondering how much more he had to pay for the semi-terraformed planet he called home. 

The tiny Fortunian defense force had succeeded where much mightier fleets had failed- they had held off the enemy fleets and prevented ground landings of invasion forces. However, long-range scanners detected an enemy fleet assembling at the outer fringes of Fortuna's effective gravitational field, and it was only a matter of time before that fleet brought itself to bear on the planet. 

A signal from his sensor officer caught his attention. "Sir, we have a small group of enemy ships and long-range starfighters leaving warp-space, 002275." 

Geldens checked his sensor board. Three patrol ships, three destroyers and two battleships, accompanied by two squadrons of long-range fighters, were coming down on his flagship at high speed from above. 

"Raid!" The wolf exclaimed. "Helm, flank speed now! Evasive Maneuvers! I want all shields above us. Order the _Renegade_, the _Swoop_ and the _Buzzer_ out to intercept. Call the planet- I want fighters up here on the double! And bring in every frigate and destroyer in the area!" 

Geldens' huge flagship, the _Titan_, the only battleship in Fortuna's defense fleet, accelerated away from the attackers while three destroyers formed a shield above it. 

"Commence firing at maximum range. Go for their destroyers first." 

"Sir!" The communications officer called. "We have one squadron of interceptors en route from the surface." 

"Thank you, Communications." Geldens thought for a moment, sizing up his odds. 

He had three destroyers to intercept the enemy's three, plus two frigates to aid in starfighter defense, but only one battleship to engage the enemy's two and one squadron of interceptors to deal with the remaining forces. They would be good to deal with the enemy's two squadrons of fighters, but it left nothing to combat the enemy's other battleship. 

This one was going to be tight. 

"Communications!" He called. "We had better go to plan Slingshot. Alert all ships." 

"Aye, sir." 

Geldens watched the enemy ships get closer, and could see that the enemy destroyers were outpacing the battleships slightly. In fact, they'd be in range within moments. 

"Volley fire on the lead destroyer!" He ordered. "Focus fire on one ship at a time." 

The laser batteries roared to life as the first shots were fired from the _Titan_'s mighty guns. 

The first volley laid only a glancing hit on the first destroyer, most of the shots having gone wide. However the second volley swept across the length of the smaller ship, blasting through the shields and rendering the bridge unusable. A last volley utterly destroyed the ship's remains. 

The other two destroyers, their captains having seen the lead ship's demise, commenced evasive maneuvers. Another volley from the Titan dropped the shields of the second destroyer in the force. 

Meanwhile the enemy fighters had come into missile range, and had launched their payloads at the _Titan__._ Waves of projectiles converged on the huge battleship. 

"Well, now we get to find out if those scientists back on the ground did their job properly." Muttered Geldens. "Engage the AMDS!" 

A spray of accurate, rapid-firing light laser fire erupted from the front and rear of the battleship, striking a few of the missiles on the way in. Their violent deaths caused a chain reaction amongst some of the other missiles, leaving fewer than half of them remaining before the frigates joined in with their own defense systems. Only one or two missiles did get through, impacting the Titan's shields and causing the great ship to shudder violently. 

"Damage reports!" Yelled Geldens. 

"No reports so far." Said the communications officer. "They didn't breach our shields. Our destroyer force has engaged and destroyed one of their remaining destroyers, but they've copped some long range fire from the enemy battleships. They're returning to our main force now." 

"Here come our boys!" The sensors officer exclaimed, pointing out the main viewport, as twelve fast I/F-300's streaked past the battleship's prow, missiles flying from their hardpoints. The speedy missiles crossed space and struck the enemy fighter force, decimating it completely. Of an original 24 ships, only 13 remained. 

_Well, things are beginning to go in our favour._

"All right, we've got them hurt, but there's still two battleships out there we have to worry about." Geldens declared. "What's the status of Slingshot?" 

"Orbiting the planet at maximum velocity." Replied the communications officer. "The final course corrections are being made, we just have to box 'em in." 

_This is it, do or die time_. "All right, engineering, reroute all weapon power to the tractor beams. Capture the lead battleship on my mark. Communications, order our smaller ships to do the same to their second." 

The _Titan_ ceased firing, slowing just enough to allow the enemy battleships into tractor beam range. The first shots from their heavy laser cannons exploded on the _Titan_'s shields, weakening them considerably. Commodore Geldens grabbed onto a railing so that the shaking throughout his flagship wouldn't send him sprawling across the bridge floor. The guns of the second enemy battleship spat laser fire at his destroyers and frigates, but effective evasive action managed to keep his smaller ships reasonably healthy. 

Just over Fortuna's horizon, an asteroid appeared, hurtling around the planet at great speed. Geldens did not give his order immediately. Though he felt shockwaves tearing through his ship, he kept his cool, waiting for the right moment. 

Finally, the captains of the enemy battleships realized their impending danger. They began turns away from each other to avoid the huge rock. 

"Now! Engage the tractor beam, full power!" Geldens yelled over the bridge sirens. The Titan was tugged backwards slightly as the enemy battleship attempted to swerve clear, but in the end, the _Titan_'s greater mass and bigger engines prevailed, pinning her adversary in place. 

The other battleship, meanwhile was pulling against the combined tractor beams of three destroyers and two frigates, and was reeling and turning as would a great beast ensnared by a group of lesser hunters. But it wasn't going anywhere fast, and the huge rock loomed closer. 

A few final explosions on the far side of the asteroid accelerated it towards the target one more time, and it came on, unstoppable now by anything either fleet possessed. The gunners of the two enemy battleships fired upon the mass of rock in desperation. 

Nothing could have saved them by that point. The asteroid slammed full into the side of the first battleship, bringing down its shields and deforming its structure. Secondary explosions began breaking that ship apart, rendering her a useless mass of twisted metal on the side of the asteroid. 

The other battleship managed to break the tractor beams of the two frigates, but it was too late. The asteroid literally knocked off its superstructure, brutally removing the bridge, communications, the shield generator, two heavy laser batteries as well as large utility sections, one quarter of the ships mass. 

When the huge rock had passed, drifting back toward the asteroid field from whence it had been dragged by Fortuna's scientists, all that was left of the enemy fleet was an ailing destroyer, the (now retreating) patrol ships, the savaged remains of a battleship and a few straggling long-range starfighters. 

A collective sigh of relief came from the bridge crew as they watched what was left of the enemy fleet turn and run. 

"All right people, I want a battle report." Geldens said wearily. 

"All enemy ships retreating, except for that wrecked battleship, it's still firing with some weapons. Our fleet is still intact, except that destroyer _Renegade_ is suffering severe atmosphere leakage, and needs to return to dock." 

"Very well, she will withdraw for now. Recommence fire on the last battleship, wipe it out." 

Geldens reviewed the battle in his mind as the main guns began firing again. He had gotten quite lucky this time, saving all his ships, but he had lost one destroyer temporarily, and each time that happened his fleet got weaker and weaker. 

And as he looked out to where the enemy fleet was supposedly massing, he asked himself again; 

"When will the Katinians arrive?" 


	10. Replies to Reviews

Replies to reviews:

To Pikacar:

Thanks, I really appreciate the input :) It's a pleasure entertaining you guys. You've done quite a few replies for me now, and they're all welcome. I'm lucky to have a really good friend like you! :)  
I was DECIDEDLY NOVICE at writing till I met you and the other guys back at PV... so remember I owe some of this to you :D

To Ginny:

I'm glad you like it so far. Yah, I kinda like Allston's style over Stackpole's but they're both winners IMHO.   
As for my branch? I'm not in the military, and I won't be unless I see a good reason why the RAAF _really _needs more people like me. I'm currently training to be a civilian pilot, but I picked up most of my military how-do from (you guessed it) Rogue/Wraith Squadron and a few years in the Army cadets.

To The Listener:

Thanks :) I put a ton of work into it. Don't worry, you'll get your updates soon. (in fact, they should go up with this reply chapter... 

To HarvestBoy:

LOL, You don't beat around the bush, do you? Well, the story is continuing with speed now that I've found some time (flight lessons done... for now) so you'll be seeing this thing at the top of the update table for a while.

To Peplos Kore:

Thanks for your feedback, it was much appreciated (especially given how little gets in here... LOL).  
Seriously though, I really dig reviews, and since they're scarce, I appreciate them all the more :)  
I kinda brought it on myself, since I barely have time to write, and I haven't reviewed too many people myself. I guess I'll start somewhere... one of your poems, perhaps? ;)  
As for the Star Fox team, you'll be seeing a bit more of them in the future :D

To Inferno:

Thanks. As I am with all reviewers, I'm really grateful. Since I started, I kinda hoped the battle scenes would work well, so I'm glad you liked 'em.

To Cold Fusion:

Sure, there'll be a few more updates, since my free time seems to have increased slightly. :)

To RaymondS:

Thanks for your feedback! That's my first review ever on this place, so what can I say? I owe you. I'll get around to reviewing your stories soon- I wrote with all the spare time I had today so when I'm free tomorrow, I'll review, review review!!!  
Heheh, I like doing battle scenes. Often, for me, the rest of the story becomes a way to link together battle scenes which I've played over and over in my mind's eye.


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